Trapped TWO-SHOT ( epilogue?)
by Star0Dragon0Slayer
Summary: Mai and Naru get trapped inside a well. What's worse is that the well lead down into an underground waterway and is rising rapidly. To make things even better, it just so happens to be the middle of winter. How will they react to this new life or death situation? How long can you hope in such a hopeless situation and How far are you willing to go to save the one you love?
1. chapter 1

Oneshot

"I can't believe he actually sent me outside!" Mai yelled as she kicked a small rock out of her path then continued to stomp down the school yard. "Stupid Naru! Its not like I meant to spill tea on his keyboard! It was an accident!" Mai mumbled a series of explanations and insults as she continued to make her way around the school for the third time.

"Hey you!" Mai heard someone shout. She quit mumbling to herself to look around for the voice. When she found it, she saw that it was a little girl in overalls, a long sleeve shirt and a pair of skater shoes. When she saw the girl she completely forgot about her anger towards her boss. But what was she doing here? It was a weekend.

"Oh, Hi!" Mai greeted. "What's your name? My name is Mai." She said as she bent down to the childs hight and smiled.

The girl seemed slighty angry but it completely disapated when she saw Mai smile.

"My name is Haruka!" she said and smiled "But my friends call me Haru."

"Haruka." Mai smiled even brighter. "You have a beautiful name. It reminds me of someone else I know, his name is Naru."

The girl smiled. "Naru." then giggled "Thats a funny name."

"It is isnt it? Actually his real name is Kazuya but I call him Naru."

"I went to school here." she said while pointing at the school.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. And at break I play over here." Haruka said while pointing into the school field. Not too far into the field was a small building. It seemed to big for a shed but too small for anything else.

 _'What could that be?'_ Mai wondered, not realizing that Haruka was talking to her until she felt a small tug at her skirt

"Mai-chan." Haruka said. "Wanna come play with me?"

' _I guess I can. Its not like Naru wants my help.'_ "Okay. But not for too long, I have to go back to work soon."

"Okay!" she said happily. "Come on!" Haruka pulled on Mai's hand towards the building.

Once they were inside Mai noticed how unstable the building really was. Everything rattled and creaked with each step she took causing dust and small debris to fall from the ceiling.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Mai asked.

"Oh, definitely." Haruka replied. "I come here all the time!"

In the middle of the room there was a well-like hole that looked really deep. She could hear the sound of rushing water in the hole. There was a ladder too, but she couldnt see if it went all the way to the bottom but she assumed.

' _There must be a sewage down there.'_

"Mai!" she heard Naru's voice. _'What does he want now? Maybe he's going to apologize for kicking me outside like a child. No-'_ "Mai!"

"Over here Naru!" Mai called back.

When Naru looked he saw Mai standing in a small building across the field. It looked dangerously close to collapsing.

"What are you doing?"

"Haru asked me to play with her."

"Haru-" Naru started but didn't finish. "Get out of there now!"

"Huh?" Mai was just about to tell Haruka she had to go when she heard a small scream. When she turned around Haruka was gone.

"No! She must has fallen in!" Mai rushed over to the hole "Haru! Haru are you okay!"

Mai was just going to climb in to help when she heard Naru a few meters from the building.

"Mai! What are you doing?" He asked when he saw Mai trying to climb in the hole.

Mai looked up with worried chocolate brown eyes. "Haruka fell in! I need to help her!"

"Who's Haruka? Never mind. Get out of that building!"

"No! I have to help her!" Mai yelled as she shook the ladder to test it out. Seeing that it was stable she took her first step onto the latter, then continued on. When she was halfway through the hole Naru grabbed her wrist and started to pull her out.

"Mai!" She heard Haru cry. She looked and saw Haruka behind Naru. "I'm sorry." she said, tears falling from her eyes. Then she vanished.

Mai's eyes widened in realization, "She was a spirit."

Then without warning the entire building came down. She barely felt it when Naru pushed her back down the hole just in time to stop any debris from hitting her. Naru covered the hole with his body and the wood crashed down onto him.

"NARU!" Mai yelled as she fell. Her arms scraped against the rough walls of the well as she fell, blood leaked from arms. The cuts weren't that bad but they stung. when she got to the bottom her back came into contact with water, softening her landing, but not enough to prevent any injuries. Her leg was cut by a sharp rock underwater. The water was ice cold. She came up coughing up the water she swallowed and desperately tried to climb back up, ignoring the pain in her arms and leg.

The ladder did not go all the way down and was a good two feet farther than she could reach.

"Naru! are you okay! Naru, answer me!" She yelled, but he did not answer back.

"Naru! please answer me!"

Tears escaped from her eyes, it was all her fault! If she wasn't so stupid and listened to Naru this never would have happened! Why? Why was she so stupid? Naru was right, she was an idiot.

She stopped herself from crying, she couldnt over react, maybe he was too quiet for her to hear. As she calmed down she finally realized how cold the water was and it was all the way up to her hips. The cold numbed the pain in her leg. She began shaking, teeth chattering, lips turning blue. The water was underground no wonder it was so cold. The only warmth she felt were the warm tears sliding down her face, she was calm but couldn't stop the last few tears from gliding down her cheeks.

For almost an hour she stood there shivering and whispering Naru's name, praying to the gods he was alright until,

"Mai?" a whisper came, "Mai?" Then she heard it again. "Mai?"

"Naru?" she called.

"Mai. Are you okay?"

"NARU!" she cried even louder. "NARU YOU IDIOT! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!" She yelled

"Calm down Mai, do you think I would die from something as small as this?" he joked.

Mai didn't get the joke, he very, very rarely joked, especially in such a serious situation. He must have been trying to comfort her in a sense.

Mai once again tried to climb up the well like hole. She put one leg on one side of the well and one leg on the other, the same with her hands, and pushed both ways while slowly inching herself up. One of her feet slipped and she dropped back down into the water. The current was strong enough to push her a bit down the tunnel. The tunnel at the bottom was the same size as the well and was almost all the way filled with water. When she pulled herself back to the well tunnel she failed to notice the water level has risen.

This time when she tried, she just managed to grab hold of the metal ladder. The water made it slippery but she kept hold of it and climbed up. The metal ladder shook while she climbed, when she was about a quarter of the way up the part of the ladder her feet were on broken off and fell into the water, leaving even less of the ladder still attached to the tunnel. She climbed as fast as she could to the top, where Naru was.

Naru was halfway over the hole with who knows how many pounds of wood and drywall crushing him.

"Naru! Naru are you okay?" Mai shouted worried. She reached out and touched him to feel where he was since it was dark and she couldn't see very well. Her touch was gental and slightly tickled, it felt nice. Not that he would ever admit that to anyone or even himself.

"Mai!" Naru hissed. "What are you doing?"

"Sorry! Did I hurt you?"

"No. Just don't do that again."

"I thought I hurt you, you idiot!"

Naru was in just the right place where if he moved forward a bit he could slide his legs into the well, but he'd need Mai's help.

Mai saw a large piece of plywood on Naru's back and climbed up to pry it off him. She pushed up with all her strength and barely felt a change, but it was enough. She lifted it just enough for him to move and he did. He slid his legs up and then down into the hole and Mai helped move some more wood until he was all the way in. Wood covered the top of the well and no cracks of light could be seen. Oxygen was thin underneath all of the debris and in the well, it was harder to breathe.

It was hard for them both to stand on the ladder but they managed. Mai stood on one bar facing the ladder while Naru stood on the bar just beneath hers holding onto the ladder by Mai's head.

"Mai, you're freezing!" Naru almost gasped when his hand accidentally brushed the side of her face, but didn't because he's Naru.

"Yeah, the water down there is ice cold!"

Mai was soaked to the bone, and it wasn't helping that she was wearing a skirt, otherwise her turtle neck was quite appropriate for the weather seeing how it was December. It was kind of his fault since he did send her outside, she didnt have time to grab a coat.

The adrenaline that coursed through her veins not too long ago was gone and she once again felt the bitter cold. She didn't voice she was cold but Naru could feel her body shivering and her skin felt like ice.

It wasnt the most comfortable position so Naru tried to move. Big Mistake. He slipped and they both fell. As they were falling Naru wrapped his arms around Mai, one around her waist and one around her head, she felt his arm and clutched tightly onto his arm and closed her eyes. He made sure to once again take the brunt of the fall. They splashed into the icy water.

The current once again tried to take Mai with it but Naru pulled her back up. She broke the surface of the water with a gasp. The water had risen so high that the bottom tunnel was completely submerged in water. The water level was up to her armpits.

When she looked at Naru she saw that he had watery blood leaking from his head.

"Oh my god! Your bleeding!" Mai pointed at his head.

"Oh this?" Naru touched his head. "I can barely feel it."

"Oh no! your already losing feeling! What do I do?" Mai frantically looked around as if she was looking for a first aid kit to pop out of thin air.

"Mai. Calm down. I'm fine." Naru tried to calm her down but his attempt was futile.

"You are NOT fine! You're bleeding from a severe injury to your head! You could have died, you're lucky you are still alive after a whole building COLLAPSED on you! Your face is starting to go pale! I have to bandage it!"

Mai reached into the water and Naru raised an eyebrow. She reached her skirt, she grimaced slightly when she accidentally touched her wound but ignored it and ripped off a huge piece of the red fabric.

Naru failed to notice her pained expression.

"Stay still!"

She folded it then wrapped it around a reluctant Naru's head.

He would have blushed if not for his practiced poker face.

It was a pretty big piece so he assumed her once knee length skirt now went to just bellow her butt- wait stop thinking about how short her skirt was now. Maybe the injury _was_ starting to affect him. The icy waters definitely weren't helping.

The air seemed to get thinner and thinner as time passed, causing them to breathe harder in an attempt to draw more air into their lungs.

Mai began to feel the effects of blood loss, her breath grew ragged and a cold sweat beaded her forehead. She started to get sleepy.

"Naru, I'm tired.." Mai said lazily as she began to drift off.

"You can't sleep Mai. Your body temperature will drop more if you sleep."

"But.. just.. so tired "

Naru saw her begin to fall asleep when he grabbed her shoulders and shook her to keep her awake. That's when he noticed the cold sweat on her forehead. How could she be sweating? not unless...

"Mai." Naru said.

"Huh?" Mai answered lazily. The loss of blood was affecting her brain function.

"Do you have any injuries? From when you fell?" Naru questioned.

"Oh, injuries?" Mai slurred.

"Yes. Any injuries?"

"I think I cut my leg open.?"

Naru furrowed his eyebrows. If she cut her leg the loss of blood would definitely cause her change in behavior. Naru reached down and picked her up, one hand under her butt and one on her knee to bring her leg to where he could see it. Dark crimson red swirled around in the water coming from the gash in her leg.

"Damn it Mai! Why didn't you tell me?" Naru got angry at her.

Mai didnt seem to react to him and just said, " Doesn't hurt anymore."

"You idiot!" Naru put her down as she leaned against the tunnel wall. He then took off his overcoat then ripped a huge piece of his shirt off, his whole sleeve to be exact. He pushed Mai higher up the well and tied the piece of clothe over her wound.

When she was on her own feet again her legs gave out and she went under.

"Damn it!" Naru grabbed her arm and pulled her back up.

"Wake up!" Naru shook her, trying to wake her up. Her body temperature already began to drop significantly. She woke up but the water had risen, she couldnt stand without her head being under water and was too weak to swim. Naru could touch just fine.

Mai held onto Naru's shoulder but got tired so she wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled her face into the crook of Naru's neck. Her breath tickled his neck and sent a shiver down his spine. Normally any form of physical contact made him uncomfortable but he didn't feel that with Mai. Also what other way could she stay afloat with a wounded leg?

Naru put the overcoat over her shoulders then wrapped his arms around her waist and snuggled his face into the crook of her neck, she smelt of sweet peaches. She was always so sweet, so it wasn't a surprise she smelled sweet too. She was hurt and kept coming in and out of consciousness, there's no way she would remember this.

"Naru?"

"You're so warm."

He didnt answer. She wasn't thinking clearly from the loss of blood from her wound on her leg. So why respond? She most likely won't remember much anyway.

"Naru?"

"Hmm?" Naru answered, not really listening to his own logic.

"I'm sorry." Mai apologized.

"What?"

"I'm sorry. This all happened because of me. You're right. I am an idiot." Mai said with a surprisingly sober sounding voice, she was obviously more conscious than not too long ago. He assumed it was because she wasn't losing as much since he wrapped her wound.

Naru didn't answer. He didn't know what to say.

But settled for, "I'm not mad."

He waited for a reply but it didn't come, instead she started crying.

"Why are you crying?" Naru asked, his voice was unusually gental.

"Because." Mai sobbed. "This is all my fault! And you're not even mad at me!" She hugged onto Naru tighter while she cried. Naru also hugged her closer. Unbeknownst to Mai, Naru never really could stay mad at her, even when he seemed mad it didn't last for long, he didn't know why, he just couldn't. He could be mad at her later, when he knew they were safe, but not now.

Naru debated whether to use his Psychic Abilities or not. If he did, they could get out, but he decided the risk was too big. If he lost control he could die and so could Mai. He couldn't risk her life. They would just have to wait and hope Lin, Takigawa, Ayako, John or Masako to find them before the water rises to high or they... They get of hypothermia.

The water level was rising and it was getting hard for Naru to stand. Soon he would have to start swimming to stay up. He could swim with her on his back or if she held on, but how long could he hold out for? He would get too tired. Then they both would go under. Maybe he could hold out until the water had risen to the ladder, then they could hold onto it.

He let go of Mai's waist to help keep his balance. The water was rising fast and he already had to swim to keep their heads out of the water. He could feel Mai kicking her feet to help, but it wasn't enough to stay up on her own.

The water was rising quickly which both was a relief since they would get to the ladder faster, but also greatly worried Naru. Once the water was at the top, they wouldn't be able to go any higher since the collapsed building blocked the top of the well, they would surely drown.

He was also surprised they have been here this long, wouldn't Masako be able to sense the spirit girl over here and find them? There must be a reason they haven't been found yet. Naru was too deep in thought to notice that he was swimming quite easily now, like he wasn't also sporting Mai's weight.

WAIT MAI!

He was right, it was easier since he wasn't sporting Mai's weight, she had let go and sunken.

"Damn it Mai!" Naru hissed. He took a breath and dived down into the well. He could feel the current from the tunnel, it was quite strong, which made him worry she had been swept off into the unknown depths of water.

It was dark, Naru could barely see where he was going, he felt around with his hands hoping to feel out where Mai was, he was starting to panic, his heart beat picked up and he could feel it thumping violently in his chest, until...

He finally felt something. It was the soft skin of her forearm. He grabbed her wrist and pulled, attempting to pull her back to the surface, but she didn't budge. Her shoe was stuck in a crack in the tunnel.

Her eyes were wide in panic as they both desperately tried to free her foot, but it just wouldn't come loose. Her lungs began to burn from the lack of oxygen and she started to get dizzy and her vision blurred.

Mai's eyes began to close and she let out her breath.

' _Damn it! why did she have to let go of me?"_

What did Naru do? He did the only thing he could do. He cupped her face in his hands, brought his face to hers, pressed his lips against hers and pushed all the air in his lungs into hers. She opened her eyes at the sudden breath of air she got and once again tried to free her foot. She couldn't get it loose but instead her foot slipped out of her shoe. Finally she was free! Naru, grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to the surface despite the lack of oxygen in his lungs.

They both gasped for air and coughed up water when they broke the surface of the water. It took a few moments for them to catch their breath, Mai still holding onto Naru's shoulder.

Naru was about to get mad at her when she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. He had really just kissed her! Well basically. But her attitude did a 180 as she started to cry.

"You idiot!" Mai sobbed. "You could have died!"

That did it. Naru got mad. "I could have died? You would have died if I didnt!"

"You don't get it!" Mai yelled. "If you died because of me I would never forgive myself!"

"Why are you so worried about me? You were the one in danger! You should be worried about yourself." She really did care about everyone else's well being before her own.

Mai didn't answer.

"Mai? Answer me."

"Its- Its because I love you..." Mai whispered, hugging Naru tighter.

This time it was Naru who didn't answer.

The water has risen all the way up to the ladder and Naru held onto it so he no longer had to swim.

Neither he or Mai had spoken for a while when he snaked his arm around her

waist, his fingers brushed against the soft skin of her back causing her to shiver from the contact.

Just because they got used to the water temperature, it didnt mean the water wasn't still freezing.

"Naru?" Mai broke the silence. "Are we going to die?" she asked.

He was shocked at how pessimistic her question was, she was usually all bubbly and cheerful and had hope even in the most hopeless situations. In these kind of situations Mai usually got depressed, then angry but then would bounce back in no time but it seemed even Mai could lose all hope.

Naru didn't answer but instead he pulled away from Mai and then rested their foreheads together, closing his eyes. Mai just stared shocked at his sudden action. He was being so gental and sweet, did he return her feelings? Or maybe he too thought they were going to die and was trying to comfort her. She assumed the latter. But even so she closed her eyes and relaxed in his embrace.

The water was now only about two meters away from the top of the well and was rising fast, they haven't much time left.

"Mai? Do you feel any better?" Naru asked. "Your leg I mean."

"Mmmh. I don't feel as light headed and dizzy as before." Mai answered.

"That's good. Can I have a look?"

Mai pulled away, looked at Naru and nodded.

"Sit up on that bar." Naru said pointing behind Mai.

Mai turned to climb up the ladder for Naru to have easier access to her leg. As she was climbing, as soon as she tried to use her hurt leg, she slipped. Naru caught her waist with both hands and lifted her onto the bar, she sat down awkwardly since the bars behind her back and head prevented her from sitting up straight.

Naru lifted up her leg out of the water to take a look. He unwrapped the piece of clothe on her leg and what he saw wasn't pretty. True that she indeed did stop bleeding, which was good since she wasn't acting as drowsy and out of it, but the reason she stopped bleeding was quite worrying. Her thigh had swollen up pretty bad, a thick yellow puss was seeping out of it, a dark purple bruise formed around it and a black vein-like substance was coming from her wound. It was definitely infected.

Naru grit his teeth and furrowed his eyebrows as he looked. He then took the clothe and began to wipe the yellow puss from her thigh, Mai winced in pain as he attempted to clean it.

He looked up at Mai, she hadn't even looked down, a feint blush evident on her face, well it would have been feint if her face wasn't so pale and her lips weren't so blue from the cold.

Naru looked back down, then he noticed it, her skirt was so short it just covered her panties. He tried to ignore the fact her skirt was so short as he finished bandaging her leg. Then he helped her down.

When Mai looked at Naru she could see the worry on his face. Was that from her cut? Was it that bad he was actually worried? She decided to ask.

"Naru?"

"Mmmh?"

"Is it that bad?"

Naru was surprised by her question, he assumed she didn't even want to know since she looked away when he cleaned it.

"It'll be fine once we clean it." Naru said, not fully answering her question.

"Let me check on your head." Mai said changing the subject.

"There's no need for that." He brushed her off.

"I wasn't asking." Mai said, once again surprising him.

She reached up to his head, untying the fabric, her face was super close to his own as she looked.

"It stopped bleeding." Mai said, "But I think we should keep pressure on it just to be safe. I'll clean it quickly first." She was being calm which was really unlike her, it almost seemed...unnatural?

She dipped the clothe in the water and then squeezed it out and began to gently dab his head. Mai stopped then brought her face down and kissed Naru's forehead softly. When she pulled away, her face lingered right above him, he felt soft warm drops of water on his forehead and he realized she was crying again.

Mai then wrapped her arms around his head and hugged him, her face resting on the top of his head. He could feel her whole body shake, more so than from the cold, but she let out no noises.

Naru didn't move, he was quite comfortable there, and if it was helping Mai calm herself, he would gladly stay there until she felt better. At least a little better.

When Mai stopped crying and shaking so much, that's when he spoke.

"Don't be afraid Mai."

Mai let him go and looked at him intently.

"The others will find us soon. I'm sure Lin is looking everywhere for me. We'll be out and this will just be a distant memory."

"How do you know?" Mai looked away and whispered. "How can you be so sure? We have already been here for two hours and no one has come."

"Mai." Naru said. Mai didn't look.

"Mai, look at me."

Mai slowly turned his way and faced him. She was more calm now then she has been since they were forced into this well when the building collapsed, was it because Naru told her they were going to be okay? Her mouth said otherwise but her words seemed empty, her heart told her to trust Naru.

Because she was more calm she was able to focus more on Naru's face. His face was paler than usual, his hair looked stiff from the water freezing onto it while his lips were blue and if she really focused she could see him slightly trembling from the cold. Mai assumed she looked quite similar.

When she looked him in the eyes, she saw that he was also staring back at her, her heart rate picked up and her breathing quickened. That's when he placed his hand on the side of her face, Mai put her hand over his and closed her eyes until she felt his other hand on her other cheek. Mai moved her face closer to his slightly and he did too, their noses touched and Mai could feel Naru's breath on her lips as they closed their eyes. They were an inch apart when...

"Naru! Naru are you down there?" They heard Lin call.

Surprised by the sudden sound, Mai jumped causing them to knock heads.

"Ouch!" Mai said rubbing her head. "Lin! Yes we're down here." Mai cried. "Please help us! The water is rising fast! We might drown soon!"

"Naru what happened?" Lin asked, you could hear the worry in his voice. "We have been looking for you for two hours!"

"I'll explain later. All you need to know is that we are trapped in a well underneath the ruble and the water seems to be rising quickly." Naru said.

"Right. Takigawa! Ayako! John! Miss Hara! over here!" Lin called

"Mai! Mai, are you okay?" Monk called

"Mai are you hurt?" Ayako asked worried.

"Are you both alright?" John asked.

"We'll have you both out of there soon, hold on." Monk assured.

"Monk! Ayako! John!" Mai called. "Please hurry!"

The water was less than a meter from the top when they all started to move all the ruble from on top of the well and the water was rising fast. From how fast it was rising, Naru assumed they had about 7 minutes until the water reached the top.

The others, especially Lin, were digging as quickly and cautiously as they could. It wasn't easy moving ruble, especially for Ayako and Masako.

And from what Naru said, they didn't have much time until the water level rose and they both drowned.

It felt like they have been digging forever but in reality it was only a few minutes and still they were getting no where. There still seemed to be hundreds of pounds of wood and concrete covering the well.

"Damnit!" Lin yelled as he furiously removed ruble from the pile. There's no way that they are going to finish in time.

x

Naru and Mai struggled to keep their heads up and out of the water as they came closer to the top, Mai's nose practically touched the wood covering the way out. Her breathing was ragged from strain on her neck, it wasn't the best position to get air to her lungs but she had no other choice.

"Lin!" Naru called, the calm mask he always kept up was falling and Mai could hear it in his voice.

"Naru, before we die, I just wanted you to know-" Mai started but Naru cut her off.

"Don't say another word."

"I just wanted you to know that I-"

"Mai stop!"

"That I love you."

"Mai!"

"And I'm so glad I met you."

Tears were in the corners of her eyes as she finished talking. Then she smiled as the water enveloped her and Naru.

Naru pounded on the wood above his head in an attempt to push the wood away but it was futile, it was just too heavy.

He began to struggle saying conscious. The lack of oxygen was starting to hit him hard. That's when he felt it, his lungs filling with air. He snapped his eyes open to see Mai, her eyes closed as she sunk. She had just given her last breath of air to him.

As he watched her sink, something dawned on him. He was going to die. Nonetheless from something so mundane. And another realization hit him and it hit him hard. Mai was going to die.

 _No._

 _No. Mai can't die._

 _No! I will not let this happen!_

 _I will not let her die!_

 _NO!_

All Naru's logical reasons slipped away. He only had one thing on his mind: Mai. He was going to save Mai, even if it killed him. And with that, he lost all control of his powers and everything went white.


	2. chapter 2

_When Mai awoke, she was laying on a hard, smooth surface. She could hear a small noise coming from the direction of her feet, though from this distance she couldn't make out what it was. She slowly felt more feeling throughout her body and was vaguely aware of the temperature in which she felt, or more accurately, didn't feel. Wherever she was, she felt neither hot nor cold, she felt nothing. Her entire body felt lighter than a feather, as if she were floating. This feeling - though strange - was not unfamiliar. She felt like this when she was in the Astral plane. Her mind felt hazy and she had no recollection of the moments before she passed out. Though the pit feeling in her stomach told her that whatever occurred beforehand was not good._

 _When Mai managed to open her eyes, all she saw was white. She blinked rapidly to clear her eyes but nothing changed. Sitting up right, she saw that it looked like she was in a large white room with no doors nor windows. Even so, she did not feel afraid._

" _Where am I?" Mai looked around again. "Where is Naru?"_

 _Naru wasn't here like he usually was to help guide her through the dream. She would just have to piece together the dream herself._

 _In the middle of the room was a large_ _white projector on a wooden stand. There were voices coming from the projector that were very familiar and she recognized them immediately. It was her friends and team. Ayako, Monk, John, Masako and Lin. Either Naru wasn't speaking or she couldn't hear him._

 _"...not breathing..."_

 _"...come on..."_

 _Though she recognized the voices, they sounded very panicked and she couldnt make out what they were saying because accompanied by it was a loud static sound as well as the voices kept getting cut off like she were trying to play a scratched CD_.

 _Mai reached her hand out to touch the projector. When her hand made contact with it, it made a small whirlling sound like when she turned her laptop on and then started to project a scene on the white wall._

 _Though the video was not clear, her eyes widened as she saw the scene play out before her eyes and her memories immediately flooded back into her mind._

 _"Oh, my god."_

XxX

"Lin!" Came Naru's muffled voice from beneath the rotten wood and concrete. Lin could hear the panic in Naru's voice. He very rarely - if at all - let his cool, composed and almost completely emotionless demeanor falter. It set Lin on edge to hear the vulnerability in his voice, nevertheless he kept digging the ruble from on the well. Lin's heart was thumping so violently in his chest that he actually thought he may have a heart attack. 'We aren't digging fast enough! We need to go faster! I'll be dammed if I let them die while under my watch!'

Lin could no longer hear Naru and Mai's panicked voices but felt the soft thumps on the wood beneath his fingertips. They must be trying to push the wood off from below! The thumping soon died off and no more movement could be heard. The water had already reached the top, evidently drowning them. In no time the water was so high it now soaked their shoes, but they showed no sign of letting up their feverish attempts at clearing the well.

No!" Ayako screamed as she tried to lift a especially large plank of wood from the fallen building. Monk saw and immediately started to help the red-haired priestess. They managed to move the large piece of wood off and started on another right away.

All of a sudden a bright white light started to glow through the small cracks leaving everyone except for Lin utterly confused. He knew exactly what that light was, It was Naru's PK. And whenever he used his PK at this caliber without Gene's help, it never ended well for Noll and any unfortunate soul who happened to be around him at the momemt he lost control.

He turned to everyone, his arm flying out in the process.

"Everyone get back now!" Lin managed to bring his hand to his mouth, letting out a small whistle just before the wood on the pile burst and went flying in every direction.

In just the right moment, Monk threw himself at Ayako, tackling her to the ground. His two long arms landed on either sides of her face, scraping his forearms on the rough dirt beneath them while shielding her with his own body.

A similar action could be seen a few feet from them as John jumped in front of Masako protecting the girl from the flying debris.

There was no way that they were going to let any more of their friends get hurt.

John and Takigawa braced themselves for the pain that was sure to come, but then nothing did.

When the wood was all back safely on the ground, everyone looked up through the thick cloud of dust just in time to see Lin dive into the now cleared well.

Confused still by the fact that not one piece of wood nor concrete had hit either himself or John, Takigawa began to look around. And right there hovering above them were two of Lin's shiki, evidently protecting them all from the blast.

When Takigawa got up, he didnt bother wiping the grime from his clothes before helping Ayako to her feet. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw movement. Whipping his head to the left he saw Lin dragging an unconscious Mai and Naru out of the well. Saying they did not look good was an understatement.

Mai's skin was pale white and her red skirt looked like it had a huge strip torn from it. She had angry red scraps along both her forearms and knees. A large piece of black fabric was tied around her leg and was sliding down to her knee revealing a sizable cut on her upper thigh. It was oozing yellow puss and the veins surrounding it looked black with infection.

Next to her was Naru, who had an entire sleeve of his black button up was missing leaving his whole left arm exposed. His arm was turning black and blue with bruising and his black hair was pushed from his face to show a long cut on the side of his forehead.

Even after seeing all this damage, there was one thing that stood out above all else: Neither Mai or Naru were breathing.

Takigawa and Ayako sprinted towards the two motionless teens.

"Mai!" Ayako screamed as she threw herself onto her bare knees beside the girl while ignoring the stinging pain. Ayako brought her head down to Mai's chest to listen for a heartbeat, but heard almost nothing.

"She's not breathing!" Her doctor side completely taking over, Ayako immediately started CPR on the teen. Thirty compressions then two breaths; repeat.

Masako just stared at Mai and Naru's lifeless bodies, she didnt know how else to help. She had already called the ambulance.

"Dammit! Noll, breathe!" Lin cursed as he continued CPR, his palms pushing deeply into Naru's chest. "Come on!"

Masako couldn't stop the tears that poured down her cheeks. How did it come to this? How come she couldn't find them sooner? There were distressed spirits over here, she could feel them clearly. How come she didn't feel them sooner and find Mai and Naru before it came to this? She was supposed to be a renowned medium dammit!

"Don't you dare give up Mai!" Ayako yelled.

Takigawa noticed Ayako wasn't pressing down on her chest as hard as she should be. She most likely didn't want to cause any more pain to Mai than she already had.

Though it pained him to do this, Monk pushed Ayako back a bit and started to do CPR himself, pressing his palms almost three inches into her chest. He would rather Mai have a few broken ribs and then recover than she die and leave everyone wishing if only they did more.

When Mai suddenly spat out a large amount of water and took in a large gasp of air, Takigawa also let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. He almost smiled until he remembered Naru. Lin was still trying to get Naru to breathe but he wasn't moving even the slightest.

Naru was showing no sign of life.

John was the first to hear the sound of the ambulance and ran towards the front of the school to show them the way. Almost tripping over his own feet every few steps. He was almost in tears. Even though he knew they would not linger but go to heaven, he was not ready for them to leave this world.

Not a minute later John was running back leading a few paramedics carrying two stretchers to the scene.

Mai was put on a stretcher and carried off while Ayako followed behind explaining the situation.

When Naru was placed on a stretcher they immediately pressed an airbag to his mouth while hurrying him towards the ambulance which had more equipment.

Lin and Ayako did not leave Mai or Naru's side even as they climbed into two separate ambulances.

Monk just caught a glimpse through the ambulance doors as they started up a defibrillator.

"Clear!" a man yelled as he pressed the machine to Naru's chest causing his body to jolt from the electricity.

Then the door closed

The ambulance almost immediately sped off.

"Lets go!" Monk called to everyone as they ran to his car to follow the ambulance.

Monk swerved around the road fast, it was a miracle he didn't get into an accident.

Once they arrived at the hospital they all tried to follow Mai and Naru into the ICU but were ushered into a waiting room.

"Sorry. I can't let you in any further ." the nurse said. "But we have a special waiting room for the ICU families. This way."

The only ones that were allowed was Ayako because she was a doctor and Lin because he managed to scare everyone into letting him stay right at Naru's side.

There were so many doctors and nurses, it was amazing they even made it as far as they did.

XxX

The last thing Mai saw before the scene in front of her vanished was the unnatural way Naru's body lurched from the shock of the defibrillator. Mai felt tears pricking the corner of her eyes. She felt nauseous and crouched down to the ground, clutching the sides of her stomach with both arms. The scene she just witnessed was enough to make her feel sick to her stomach.

' _Oh, my god. N- Naru... I'm so sorry, it's all my fault! I'm such an idiot! Please be okay.. Naru please just be okay!_

Mai took long deep breaths trying to calm herself down, but it was proving to be difficult. Soon Mai felt light wind-like sensation as the room around her changed. Mai didn't even look up to see where she was now.

Even though she was in the Astral plane and knew she couldn't actually feel anything such as pain or sickness, her mind still made her feel as if she were going to throw up..

When Mai felt a soft pressure on her shoulder, she jumped and whipped her head to the side.

What she saw made her eyes widen, there standing all clad in black was the source of her grief. It was Naru. Dream Naru of course.

Mai moved so fast _she_ didn't even realize that she had wrapped her arms around the teen, pressing her face into his chest until after she had done so. But even after she realized, she didnt let go.

"Mai." he said, his voice softer than she last heard it.

Mai looked up, fresh tears in the corner of her eyes. She knew this wasn't really Naru, but she couldnt help herself.

He lifted his hand and pointed behind her.

"Watch." He said.

When she looked up she saw Monk, John and Masako all sitting in a waiting room looking anxious. They were all covered in dirt and grime. When they saw Ayako coming they stood up, looking at her expectantly.

Mai couldn't hear if they were talking or not but Ayako burst into tears and Takigawa immediately went to comfort her, pulling her into a hug.

A few tears slipped down Masako's face. Just watching Ayako cry made her cry.

Mai let go of dream Naru and started to run towards them, fear settling into the pit of her stomach.

Dream Naru followed her at a walk.

Soon she started to hear snippets of the conversation.

"...Mai's..."

"...surgery..."

"...Lin refused..."

Every snippet of the conversation made her fear grow.

Soon the scene disappeared and she looked back to Naru.

"Do you know what happened? Did I- Did Naru die?" Mai asked, her voice starting to break. Naru looked away for a moment then looked back,

"Oh, my god It's really bad then!" Mai started to tear up more before a huge sob violently shook her body. "It's all my fault! If I wasn't so stupid none of this would have happened!"

A new scene appeared in front of Mai.

"Mai, don't-" Naru started, reaching his arm out to stop her, but she ignored him and walked forward

Everyone was seated in the waiting room, excluding Lin, he was nowhere to be seen. It seems this vision was a few hours after the other one.

A doctor approaches the waiting room, looking down at his chart.

Mai hesitantly walks behind the doctor looking over his shoulder at the chart, the only thing she saw was in the corner there was a note that read: Family and friends refer patient as 'Naru'

Mai gasped. Her heart squeezing painfully in her chest. She was finally going to hear news about Naru! Mai tried to look again but he started walking forward a bit.

"Excuse me. Can I please see the family of patient Naru-" but before the doctor could finish, Ayako and all the others almost ran over the Doctor.

"We are the closest to family he has here right now. What news do you have?" Ayako asked, desperation very clear in her voice.

No one else could talk as they impatiently waited for the man to speak.

He sighed and took off his glasses closed his eyes then put them back on.

"I regret to inform you that after the operation brain hypoxia occurred causing-" the doctor cleared his throat "'Naru' to fall into a coma. Cerebral hypoxia occurs when there is not enough oxygen getting to the brain. Some brain cells start to die after 5 minutes without oxygen causing severe brain damage. 'Naru' went into cardiac arrest and fell into a coma. He died an hour later."

Mai was too shocked to hear what her friends did after they heard this, she could imagine it resembled her. Her heart sped up until she could hear it thumping violently in her chest and she could feel her world crumbling down around her.

No. No. No. He wasn't dead. No. He's wrong. It can't be true. He's not dead!

Mai crumpled to the ground, clutching her chest, letting out wailing cries.

"No! You can't be dead! Please no! I should be the one to die, it's _my_ fault!"

Dream Naru started to walk towards her but she didn't notice. She had forgotten he was there. Wait how was he still there? Oh that's right, he was just a part of her imagination after all. Right?

"Mai." He said. She looked up not even trying to hold in her cries. "I think you've been here long enough." Naru bent forward and poked her forehead softly. "It's time to wake up." He whispered.

"No!" Mai yelled as she tried to reach out to grab onto Naru but her hand just went through nothing.

And just like that, Mai felt herself falling into darkness.

Everything was black and she felt cold. Not much, but a chill. Her whole body was starting to ache, especially her thigh. As more time went on, the pain in her leg intensified. She felt a small stabbing pain in her arm as well. Soon a soft mechanical beeping sound filled her ears at a slow steady pace, _Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep._

When she opened her eyes, she faintly saw a white ceiling through the dim lighting. The only lighting was the moonlight shinning through the window and small green and yellow lights blinking from the life support machines beside her.

Her breathing was getting hard and tiring until she noticed she had a mask over her mouth giving her a steady supply of oxygen. The oxygen, now that she was awake, was too little.

Mai's arm felt heavy as she lifted it to remove the mask. That's when she noticed both her arms were bandaged and her left arm was hooked up to the IV.

She felt wet on her pillow. When she reached up to her face, she realized she had been crying out for real.

There was the time displayed on one of the machine screens, it read: 4:27am.

How long was she here? Her body felt stiff so she imagined she had been asleep for a while.

Then a voice flashed through her mind,

 _'Naru went into cardiac arrest and then a coma. He died an hour later.'_

Fresh tears fell from her eyes and she began to sob. Her heart rate picked up causing the machine beside her to start to blare loudly. _Beep! Beep! Beep!_ But Mai barely heard it.

A nurse came in a minute later and hurried over to her side.

"Are you okay? Are you in pain?"

Mai nodded her head.

"Where does it hurt?" the nurse asked.

Mai brought her hand up to her heart and clutched the fabric in front of it.

The nurse frowned realizing it wasn't physical pain that Mai felt.

"Oh honey." The nurse hugged Mai and Mai hugged her back. It pained the nurse to see her patients cry. She shouldn't be emotionally attached but she couldn't help herself.

"What's wrong?"

"He's dead!" Mai cried.

"Whose dead?"

"Naru!"

The nurse frowned again. How did she hear about that? She had just woken up after 3 days of being here.

The nurse let her cry for a moment before getting up

"I need to inform the doctor. Do you want me to call anyone for you? Family or friends? I think doctor Ayako is still here"

Mai nodded. Then the nurse left.

A few minutes later Ayako burst into the room.

"Mai! You're awake!" Ayako cried as she pulled Mai into a hug.

Mai let out a pained cry. Her chest felt as if it were on fire, she could guess she had a few broken ribs.

"Oh! Mai I'm sorry!"

Mai didn't say anything but started to cry again.

"Does it hurt a lot? Do you want some pain medication?"

Mai shook her head.

"Then what's wrong?" Ayako asked while she started to rub her back.

Mai couldn't make any words leave her mouth, just sobs.

Mai cried until she fell asleep again. She was still exhausted despite how long she had been sleeping.

XxX

 _When Mai opened her eyes she was standing in the classroom where she first met Naru. She felt her heart ache painfully in her chest at the memory._

 _Naru walked into the room, just like he did all those months ago. But this time, Keiko nor Michiru were there. Just her and Naru alone._

 _Mai ran towards him,_

 _"Naru!" She yelled, tears gathering in her eyes. But as soon as she got within an inch of him, the whole scene around her changed._

 _This time Mai stood in front of the old school house on their first case together. She looked around and saw Naru sleeping in the SPR van with his black coat thrown over his shoulders._

 _Her_ _face heat up despite herself as she saw his chest rise and fall with breaths. His face was soft with the peace of sleep rather than his usual stoic mask._

 _"Naru!" Mai yelled as she again tried to get to him. But he was gone before she could._

 _Again the scene changed and she found herself sitting on the ground in a living room where she guessed was Ayami's house._

 _And there was Naru standing a few feet away from her, staring at the place where Tomiko's mother's spirit was cleansed. It was the second time he had surprised her since their meeting that he wasn't all what he seemed._

 _"Please wait Naru!" Mai yelled as she got up from her place on the ground. Naru turned and looked at Mai before vanishing._

 _Mai was starting to see a pattern. She was seeing all the special moments she remembered from each case. But why was he disappearing before she got to him? It's like even her dreams were mocking her. Telling her she will never be good enough, telling her Naru will always be just out of reach._ _She didn't deserve him, it was her fault he was-_

 _Mai turned to see she was in the well at Rykurio High School. And there, sitting against the wall, was subject of her torment. Naru. He was smilling up at her, one of those rare smiles that made her stomach do back flips._

 _The scene changed and now she and Naru were back in that well, that damn well that caused Naru's d- Naru's deat- she couldn't finish saying it. Mai cried so much in so little time she was amazed she didn't run out of tears._

 _Mai shut her eyes tightly hoping these memories would just go away. She just wanted to see the real Naru again and when she opened her eyes she was just standing in blackness. That's when she heard a voice. It was Naru's voice. She couldn't make out what it was, it was so quiet._

 _She suddenly had a feeling that whatever he was saying was very important, like it would lead her to Naru. She strained her ears to hear but only heard bits_ _and pieces._

A _ll of a sudden she was on a rooftop of a building. Mai walked to the railing and looked over the edge, her hands gripping the metal bars tightly. As soon as her eyes wondered to the ground a huge wave of dizziness washed over her. She immediately stumbled back and landed ungracefully on her bottom._

 _She was just getting up when she heard Naru's voice behind her._

 _She turned to see Naru standing with his arm extended to help her up. His usual mask completely gone, exposing the storm of emotions swirling around in his eyes._

 _"Are you okay, Mai?"_

 _"I'm alive, but you..."_

 _"Give me your hand."_

 _Mai nodded and reached her hand up to grab onto his. And this time their hands connected._

Mai awoke with a start, jolting upright in her hospital bed. She let out a pained groan as she put a light hand over her chest. Her ribs burned.

Mai lifted a hand to her face and felt she had a steady flow of tears running down her cheeks.

But even with what she knew, she just couldn't believe he was dead. Something inside her was telling her otherwise.

Ayako was gone and when she looked up for the time. it was 3:59am. She was asleep for almost another 24 hours.

Mai slowly got up minding her injuries and slipped on the soft gray slippers. The dream she had was telling her to go to the roof.

But why?

Mai pulled out the needle hooked up to the IV out. A drop of blood trickled down her arm but she ignored it and left her room and entered the dim lighted hallway. Just the short walk had her panting and her injuries burned a lot, not making it any easier.

Luckily there were no nurses in the the hall to tell her to go back to her room and rest, actually it was void of any people at all save for herself.

Mai hobbled around the best she could to find any stair case or elevator that could get her to the roof. Mai walked far down the hallway to finally find a staircase that leads to the roof. The staircase was cold and dimly lighted and smelt like an old hockey change room.

It took her almost eight minutes to climb one flight of stairs and who knows how many there were left.

But Mai didnt give up. She climbed until she reached the top, where there was a platform. The only thing that stood between her and the roof were a pair of double doors.

Mai panted heavily, sweat dripped down her back of her hospital shirt and pants. She pushed through the doors hard and they opened with an unexpected ease causing her to fly forward,

But she didn't hit the ground.

Instead, a pair of strong arms grasped her upper arm and waist, saving her from more physical pain.

Mai slowly regained her bearings and stood staring at the ground while gripping the sleeve of the unknown person. Her hands trembled lightly and she looked up to his chest not going any further. Was this Naru? Did she dare hope? If it wasn't, she didn't know how much longer she could hold in all the pain. Of course its not! He died. He did! She even saw the doctor tell Ayako and the others! The way he died fit the situation exactly!

 _'Stop it Mai! Stop! Stop! Stop!'_

 _A womans voice echoed through her head. "Patient Narumi Matsuoka, age 19 died at 8:57pm December 17th."_

"Are you just going to stare at my chest?" the man in front of her said. He sounded like~

Mai whipped her head up so fast she got dizzy and fell forward gripping the front of his shirt.

Looking up again slower, she saw him.

She saw Naru.

"Naru!" Mai cried, she threw herself at him with new found strength thus knocking Naru to the ground.

"Oof"

She now sat on the ground between his legs squeezing the life out of him.

"Naru!" came Mai's muffled cry again from her face buried into Naru's chest. "Y-you were d-dead! The d-doctor sa-said you were d-dead! In my dr-dreams y-ou we-were so far away! I couldn't get to you! I-I-"

"Mai." Naru said gently.

Mai continued to cry into his chest.

"Mai. Listen to me."

Mai tried to stop but the tears wouldn't go but at least she managed to bring her weeping down to a hiccup.

"How did you get up here?" he asked.

"th-the stairs. W-why?" Mai asked.

"You could have used the elevator, dummy."

' _The elevator..'_

Then Mai did the last thing Naru expected her to do. She burst out laughing and crying at the same time.

"You're real."

Naru's face softened.

He had just woken up almost fifteen minutes before Mai got here. He didn't even know if she was alive or not, or if he'd killed her... The last thing he remembered was losing control of his PK and then the dream, the dream he had moments before awaking. It was the only reason he came up here.

"Mai. You contacted me. In your dream, how did you do that?"

"I did?" Mai asked as she wiped her nose. "I thought it was just the dream you, I always saw."

"What do you remember before being on the roof?"

"I- I was just thinking about how much I wanted to see the real you."

 _'Dream telepathy_.'

"I felt you in my dream.. So is this even real or is this just a part of my imagination? And one time, I'll open my eyes and you'll be gone." Mai asked softly, a few more tears slipping down her face. She was trying desperately not to break down again.

"Mai." Naru said, cupping her chin in his hand he brought their foreheads together and closed his eyes.

"I am real, Mai." he whispered. "And I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?" Mai asked through hiccups.

"I promise."

Then Naru brought his free hand to cup her other cheek and wiped her tears with the pads of his thumbs.

Mai opened her cinnamon brown eyes to see Naru's midnight blue eyes staring back at her. Their noses were almost touching and Mai could feel his hot breath on her lips.

"Mai." Naru said, barely above a whisper.

Mai just looked back at him, waiting. Her heart beat drummed in her chest and she began to feel a shiver down her whole body.

"Can I kiss you?"

Mai just smiled, a lone tear streaking her face.

Naru leaned his face in, pressing his lips to hers gently.

Mai lit up to the touch of his soft lips on hers and snaked her hands around his neck, leaning into the kiss more.

Her lips fit perfectly in his, for such a big mouth. Naru actually smiled, not smirked but smiled at his own joke.

Mai felt his lips curve upwards on hers causing her to smile too. This is one of his rare smiles, she'd take it however she could get it.

Much to Naru's surprise she pulled back slowly until just their forehead were still touching. And her cheeks were flushed a deep pink.

"Naru..I- "

"Mai. You know I am not very good with dealing with emotions.."

"Its okay.. You-"

"Mai. Be quiet." Naru demanded, his face scrunched up in concentration.

It was kind of...cute. Mai frowned slightly, but her hopes began to rise.

"Mai. I have these feelings that I don't quite understand, the only way I can describe these feelings is that I want to stay with you. That I- I want to be there for you when your sad. And I want to protect you.. " Naru trailed off before coming back strong. "I love you, Mai."

"I already know." Mai whispered. "I love you too."

 **Yay! Oh my, gosh I'm done! Thank you everyone for reading**! **I'm glad you all liked it, the first chapter at least? Thanks for being patient with me while updating!**

 **Might have been a bad ending but I'll try to make them better next time.**

 **If you want an epilogue of sorts to explain anything that I kind of left out review Or just PM me. Whatever works.**


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